“Gravity swallows light. It’s kind of like a hole in space.”
I pissed myself laughing at the above line, delivered with the utmost sincerity, as I did a fair amount during the early scenes of this film.
As many explanatory emails to customers from commercial traders were at the start of the 2020 pandemic lockdown, I’m sure most reviews of Oppenheimer are unnecessarily long and self-indulgent, so I shall endeavour to be merciful and keep this brief.
I found the first half of this award-swallowing singularity, which chronicles the development of the Manhattan Project and setting up of Los Alamos base, embarrassing. It actually feels like a TV sketch show parody of a film like this. Christopher Nolan is good at structuring a story, but is beyond useless at writing subtle dialogue. At one point, a military official announces: “I built the Pentagon!” apropos of nothing, because apparently we, the audience, need some context to know who the man is. We don’t. Many other characters spout on-the-nose dialogue like a compendium of famous quotes from the twentieth century, or the empty motivational platitudes you’ll find in a modern fortune cookie. People react outwardly to scientific goings on in a way that people wouldn’t realistically react. They laugh, they run, they applaud, they shout. No. It’s all drama for drama’s sake, but certainly not part of my reality. The titular scientist uses physics to chat up women at parties, which made me roll my eyes so hard I had to fish them back down. Just give us information, you don’t need to bury it in sex and nudity like an owner covertly feeding their cat a worming tablet by putting the medication in its food.
The film is marvellously edited, on a very superficial level, but moments that should have significant time spent on them are rushed through, making the whole thing feel like an extended trailer. I get the feeling the marketing people found their work mostly done for them. I also get the feeling the actors didn’t have much fun being ferried about from location to location, only to spout a line or two. I guess they all got paid pretty well though.
Anyway, after a cringe-inducing hour or so, things finally pick up with the build up to the Trinity bomb test, which is genuinely thrilling. As is the resulting semi-political court-case-that’s-not-a-court-case over Oppenheimer’s security clearance. I’m not sure why him losing his clearance would stop him doing science altogether, but the film presents the situation as such.
All the actors try their best with Nolan’s clunky dialogue, but they must have had to practice their lines in the mirror more than usual before heading out to the set in the morning. I can’t get enough of Kenneth Branagh, who seems to be getting more handsome the older he gets, so it’s nice that he drops by. Cillian Murphy distractingly sounds like Robin Williams throughout, but at least he managed to creep me out less than usual. Such a rubbery face! Scott Grimes is in there somewhere, but I couldn’t spot him. Oh and I didn’t realise Robert Downey Jr and Matt Damon are in the damn thing until an hour in, so kudos to the makeup department and Downey Jr’s acting.
Sorry, Matt, but I just can’t do it.
I’d like to see a less overwrought and melodramatic take on the same story, or just read a sober nonfiction account, as Oppenheimer is, more often than not, the worst example of a Hollywood biopic. We get it, sometimes good things happen in a person’s life and sometimes bad things happen. Now let’s just get on with our own, shall we?
It’s worth a look, but you will need to persevere for an hour or so with all the condescension and silliness.
Do stay in touch, darlings.
Toodles!
No comments:
Post a Comment